Tadaaki Jagawa has built a very successful career selling cars around the world. Now the Toyota executive is hoping to apply some of the same principles to making the game of go more popular around the world. Jagawa, Vice-Chairman of the Nihon-Kiin’s Board of Directors, is visiting the U.S. Go Congress this week. “I think it’s very important to meet the U.S. go community in person,” Jagawa told the E-Journal on Tuesday, in an interview translated by Frank Fukuda of the Seattle Go Center. “The Nihon Ki-in is in critical condition and really needed people with management skills,” Jagawa said. “It’s my goal that our professional go players be able to play go as much as possible, instead of spending their time managing the Ni-hon Ki-in.” As Vice-President of Toyota, Jagawa has been responsible for opening most of the company’s overseas factories in the U.S. Europe, Africa and the Mideast. As a manager used to being on the ground, Jagawa – who joined the Nihon Kiin leadership team in 2012” – says that a visit to the U.S. was “Number one, most important” to underline and explore the Ki-in’s commitment to supporting go in the United States. The immediate idea is for the Ki-in to send a stream of young professionals to the United States to teach and lecture as part of the AGA’s continuing outreach programs in places like the Seattle Go Center. Discussions with the AGA and local organizers are underway about a location on the East Coast. “It’s going to be very important to the success of this plan that ghe Nihon Ki-in be in more regular and frequent official contact with the AGA,” Jagawa said, obliquely alluding to the now-resolved tensions over the future of the Seattle and New York Go Centers. The hope is to have the plan for a new East Coast go center in place by March, 2014. Discussions are also underway with the European go community — and in fact, the other Nihon Ki-in vice chairman, Mr. Yamashiro, is visiting the European Go Congress this week — but the timeline there is expected to be somewhat longer. “Building the base is key to success,” Jagawa said. “You must sell the product through the base. In this case the product is go, which is very different than, say, a car, but perhaps there are some similarities after all.” Localizing is important, he stressed. Toyota became a global success in part by localizing its vehicles for each market. Applying this to go, Jagawa suggested, means adapting the Nihon Ki-in’s support to whatever makes the most sense in each community, rather than trying to impose a “one size fits all” model. “It must be fit to the needs of the people,” he said. Asked what his favorite thing is about the game of go, Jagawa chuckled. “Sometimes, in seeking the truth on the board, however deep you go, you can’t see the bottom. That’s very attractive.” Clearly, this is a man who relishes a challenge, wherever he finds it.- report/photos by Chris Garlock: top left: Jagawa plays at the Go Congress; bottom right: Thomas Hsiang and Frank Fukuda present Jagawa with a 2013 U.S. Go Congress t-shirt.

Tournament Recap: It was an exciting morning at the U.S. Open on Tuesday. The games on both top boards — both being broadcast live on KGS and drawing a crowd in the playing room as well — were half-pointers, and TD Karoline Burrall and other officials were called in to help adjudicate the scoring in the Board 1 game between the undefeated Zi Yang (Matthew) Hu 1P and Yuhan Zhang 7d because of a question about how to count points in seki. Zhang got the win, snapping an impressive winning streak in the U.S. Open by Hu that goes back to 2011. Hu was back in form in his Masters tournament Round 3 game Tuesday night, handily defeating Jie Liang, while Stephanie Yin dispatched Hugh Zhang and Andy Liu 1P notched his second 2013 NAMT win by defeating Justin Teng. In the Strong Player’s Open, Cong Li continued his run by beating Ho Son, as did Yuhan Zhang, winning against Juyong Koh, and Beomgeun Cho, defeating Andrew Huang. Latest results — and game records — are here: U.S. Open; NAMT; SPO.

Wednesday Schedule: While most Congress attendees will be off exploring the Seattle area today on the traditional day off, many will stay for the 4-round Die Hard, which is also expected to attract local players who can just come for the day. Players must register by 8:30a in order to play in the first round, which starts at 9a; pre-registrants must check in by 8:45. The tournament will be played in the main playing area.

Madness Declining at Congress: Attendance is down at the Midnight Madness tournament “due to campus-wide outbreak of board gaming, poker, and 7 am tennis,” reports TD Martin Lebl. Just six players turned out Monday night, but “as always, games are available nightly,” Lebl promised. photo by Martin Lebl

Seen & Heard: “If white gets all four coasts, black should resign,” said Paul Barchilon when he came across Vincent Ma 2d and Jeffrey Zhang 2d playing on this go board in the shape of the United States, created by Frank Salantrie. Ma won, 126-60. photo by Paul Barchilon

Online Coverage: There will be no live broadcasts Wednesday; our coverage of top boards at the U.S. Open resumes at 9a (PST) Thursday on KGS (look for the USGO accounts); professional commentary by Myungwan Kim 9P and Chujo Chihiro 1P begins at 10a. Redmond Cup coverage on KGS will begin at 3p. Our live coverage of the North American Ing Masters and Strong Players Open begins at 7p. Results — and game records — are here: U.S. Open; NAMT; SPO.

Tournament Recap: In the second round of the North American Masters Tournament Monday night at the U.S. Go Congress, Zi Yang Hu defeated Calvin Sun on Board 1, while Jie Liang (left in photo) handed Andy Liu 1P (right) his second defeat in the NAMT and Mingming Yin beat Tianyu Lin. In the Strong Players Open, Li Cong beat Peilun Li on Board 1, while Yuhan Zhang defeated Beomgeun Cho and Juyong Koh won against Albert Yen. Click here for full results — and game records — of each round: U.S. Open; NAMT; SPO. photo by Phil Straus

Pro Game Commentaries: We’ve got three pro game commentaries so far: Jennie Shen 2P on the U.S. Open Round 1 game Sunday between Zi Yang (Matthew) Hu and Tianyu [Bill] Lin; Cathy Li 1P on the U.S. Open Round 2 game Monday between Zi Yang Hu and Jianing Gan, and a special bonus: Myungwan Kim 9P’s (left) commentary on the Pandanet-AGA City League A-League final between Beumgeon (Evan) Cho and Jie Li, which was played last Saturday. photo by Chris Garlock

Midnight Madness Welcomes Hardcore Players: “Join the ranks of the truly hard core go players where the go never ends,” urges Midnight Madness TD Martin Lebl. “Five tables of midnight fun and madness daily in the main playing hall.” Just show up between 11:30 and 11:50 to sign up for the round each day; pairings after 11:55, with games starting at midnight.

Online live coverage of top boards at the U.S. Open begins at 9a (PST) on KGS (look for the USGO accounts), and Board 1 will also be simulcast on IGS; professional commentary by Yilun Yang 7P and Shirley Lin 1P begins at 10a. Redmond Cup coverage on KGS will begin at 3p. Our live coverage of the North American Ing Masters and Strong Players Open begins at 7p. Results — and game records — are here: U.S. Open; NAMT; SPO.

Sweden: Recently, Leksand hosted both the Leksand Open and the European Women’s Go Championship. Even though he had triumphed at the EGF Qualification tournament for Beijing 2013 two days before, Hui Fan 7d championed the Leksand Open on July 24 with Ali Jabarin 6d in second and Cristian Pop 6d in third. The same day, victory at the European Women’s Go Championship belonged to Natalia Kovaleva 5d (left) while Dina Burdakova 5k placed second and Manja Marz 3d came in third. Croatia: The 475. Velika Gorica weekend go tournament finished July 27 with Mladen Smud 1k in first, Nikola Primetica 4k in second, and MIrko Primetica 9k in third. Romania: Catalina Bianca Tudosie 12k took first at the TrSeverin – Under 16 club tournament on July 28 in Drobeta-Turnu Severin. In second was Catalin Fabian Birlan 12k and third was Marina Popa 16k.— Annalia Linnan, based on reports from EuroGoTV, which include complete result tables and all the latest European go news

Tournament Recap: Top players get two bites at the competitive apple at the U.S. Go Congress, playing in both the U.S. Open in the morning and then in either the North American Masters Tournament (NAMT) or the Strong Players Open (SPO). In an upset win,Jianing Gan 7D forced a resignation by Andy Liu 1P in yesterday’s first-round action at the U.S Open (USO), but Liu — who conducted a simul in the afternoon (right) — notched a decisive win against Yuan Zhou 7D in the evening round of the NAMT. In other top-board USO action, Canadian pro Zi Yang Hu 1P beat Tianyu (Bill) Li, Chinese pro Cong Li 3P lost to Yuhan Zhang 7D and Beomgeun Cho (9.2 AGA) defeated Andrew Lu (7.5 AGA). In other NAMT top results, Hugh Zhang 7D scored an upset against Yongfei Ge 8D, Zi Yang Hu 1P defeated Jianing Gan 7D and Andy Liu 1P beat Yuan Zhou 7D. In the SPO, Cong Li defeated James Sedgwick 7D of Canada, while Beomgeun Cho beat Andrew Lu and Juyong Koh 7D defeated Maojie Xia 6D. Track results — and check out game records, where available — of each round here: U.S. Open; NAMT; SPO. For Congress tourney crosstabs going back to 2008, click here. photo by Chris Garlock

Today’s online live coverage of Round 2 of the U.S. Open begins at 9a (PST) on KGS (look for the USGO accounts); professional commentary by Myungwan Kim 9P and Cathy Li 1P begins at 10a. Our coverage of the second round in the North American Ing Masters and Strong Players Open begins at 7p.

Seen & Heard: A top player in the US Open was late to his game because he was found trying to get into the wrong room, which turned out to be a locked storage closet, not the playing room.

Attention Congress Attendees: Exercise sharpens your mind: pick-up tennis and soccer games are at 4p this afternoon: see the signs outside the main playing area for details. Don’t forget to send us your Congress reports, sightings and photos. Got something all Congress attendees should know? Email it to us at journal@usgo.org!

Correction: This report has been corrected to reflect Chinese pro Cong Li 3P’s loss to Yuhan Zhang 7D in the US Open; our original report said that Li won.

Sunday’s snapshots: top right: Yilun Yang 7P lectures (by Phil Straus); middle & bottom right: strong players review their games (Chris Garlock); bottom left: Cathy Li 1P plays in a simul (Peter Mooyman); top left: the main playing area during the US Open (Phil Straus).Plus: Click here for Phil Straus’ complete album of the day.

Hui Fan 7d (left) is on fire lately. On top of his recent Leksand Open and EGF Qualification for Beijing 2013 wins, Fan has climbed to the top of the leader board for the main tournament at the 2013 European Go Congress underway in Poland. Behind him are Antti Tormanen 6d and former first place holder Mateusz Surma 6d. However, formidable contenders Ilja Shikshin 7d, Alexandr Dinerchtein 7d, and Ondrej Silt 6d hold sixth, seventh, and eighth. Twenty-year-old Lukas Kräemer 5d is also closing in on the top ten. The main tournament recommences on August 5 at 10 A.M. local time.

Meanwhile, the weekend tournament finished August 4 with Shikshin in first, Fan in second, and Ali Jabarin 6d in third. For the latest updates, full results, photos, and more, visit the official 2013 European Go Congress website.– Annalia Linnan; photo courtesy EuroGoTV